\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\u2018The Rookie\u2019 (L-R): Bridget Regan, Richard T. Jones <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Mike Taing<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tGrey\u2019s old job will be temporarily vacant, not for the reasons he suggested, Tim and Lucy\u2019s pending nuptials, but because the couple were taken. Would Grey go back?<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI am always looking for a fresh way, I don\u2019t think going backwards is necessarily the way to go, but I also want it to be satisfying and dramatic,\u201d Hawley said. \u201cSo one of the first things we got to figure out is what are we going to do with him that feels like growth.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBut is original Rookie<\/em> cast member Jones or another series regular leaving ahead of Season 9?<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNo, we\u2019re status quo. We like everybody, we\u2019re making it work,\u201d Hawley said. \u201cRichard is a hugely important piece of the puzzle of our show. Again, without treading water, what are we going to do? As long as we treat it as an opportunity, I think we\u2019ll figure out something fun to do, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tDeadline spoke with Hawley last month about the fact that The Rookie <\/em>is yet to kill off a main character \u2014 something long-running dramas do for both story and financial reasons. Would Hawley do it?<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d he said. \u201cYou never say never. At the end of the day, one of the things that I\u2019ve always tried to lean into in the show is that you have to do the most dramatic thing possible when you can, even if it\u2019s hard on the audience, like breaking Chenford up a few seasons ago, people were not fans of that. But I felt like it was important to do that for the story. No, there\u2019s no plan to do anything crazy right now, but never say never.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFor more on Chenford\u2019s [Lucy Chen & Tim Bradford] big proposal and shocking abduction, read Deadline\u2019s postmortem interview with Hawley, in which he dissects the Season 8 finale and previews Season 9, which is in very early stages. You can read Hawley\u2019s update on The Rookie: North <\/em>spinoff here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
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